THE FIRE SALE: Week 9

I love Twitter on Sundays. I love sitting back and reading people do victory laps when a guy catches one pass and give their crazy takes about football. It’s one of my greatest joys in life.

I do respect other people’s opinions. However, sometimes there’s just right and wrong. It’s not opinion, it’s fact, so if you think otherwise, you’re simply wrong.

That’s what we had on Sunday when Todd Gurley decided not to score in the final minute against Green Bay. There’s no opinion here. Gurley was right to take a knee and that’s not my opinion, it’s 100 percent fact.

Forget about gambling or your fantasy team, it makes no sense for Gurley to score in that situation. Would the Los Angeles Rams win the game up nine points with less than a minute left? Most likely. The difference is they are guaranteed to win the game if Gurley doesn’t score. The odds may not be high but Green Bay still had a mathematical chance to win the game if they got the ball back down nine points. Green Bay has zero chance to win the game if Gurley takes a knee and the clock runs out.

Now, I was never great at math growing up. I leave that stuff to the analytical community. I do have common sense though and if a player gives his team a 100 percent chance to win a game, it’s the right thing to do. There’s no debate here. There’s either right or wrong. If you think Gurley should have scored, it’s not an opinion or a take. You’re wrong and embarrassing yourself on social media. Some things in sports can’t be debated.

Gurley should have taken a knee. Pete Carroll should have given the ball to Marshawn Lynch in the Super Bowl. Marvin Hagler beat Sugar Ray Leonard. These things are all facts and they cannot be disputed. At least not with me.

If you like fantasy football, gambling or Chicago sports, follow me on Twitter @ThePigskinGuy. Besides writing the “Fire Sale,” I’m an editor @BetChicago1. I respond to all questions/comments because I’m a remarkable human being.

After being a non-factor for the first seven games, Miami was forced to play Parker on Thursday night because of injuries to its receivers. He responded in a big way by catching six balls for 134 yards on nine targets.

Parker is maddening to fantasy owners because the talent is there but he’s never been able to put it all together. He’s always had potential but injuries and motivation have limited his fantasy value.

Parker is always a risk but assuming he doesn’t get hurt or traded, he should be Miami’s No. 1 receiver for the rest of the season. He’ll be the top target in the Miami passing game with Danny Amendola. And just think, Parker has Brock Osweiler throwing to him. What could go wrong?

We’ll have to see how things shake out in Denver but on the Vance Joseph sinking ship, there’s rumors that some players could be thrown a life jacket and traded, including Demaryius Thomas.

Sutton is becoming a bigger part of the Denver offense with at least 50 receiving yards in three of his last six games. He’s only caught only 17 passes all season, so he’s not fantasy relevant yet, but Sutton would move into a starting role opposite Emmanuel Sanders if Thomas is dealt.

Sutton is a stud. Anyone with eyes can see that. His fantasy ceiling is capped as long as Thomas is in Denver but if that situation changes, Sutton will be big for fantasy owners over the final two months of the season.

I couldn’t care less about Doyle. I just wanted to mention him because Andrew Catalon had one of the best calls of all-time when he declared “Doyle Rules!” after the Indianapolis tight end plowed into the end zone for a touchdown Sunday.

If you don’t know what that means, I’m guessing you think Amy Schumer is funny. What will Budweiser and Doritos do now that Schumer is boycotting Super Bowl ads? That no-talent blimp is really making a difference.

Getting back to Doyle, he returned from a hip injury to catch six balls for 70 yards and a touchdown on seven targets. Doyle did most of his damage in a drive in the fourth quarter but it was an encouraging performance for Doyle in his first game back.

In the three games Doyle has played this season, Eric Ebron’s snaps have declined dramatically. Both tight ends will be used moving forward because of the lack of receiver depth in Indianapolis. Indianapolis is on a bye this week, so grab Doyle now.

About Thomas Casale

Thomas began playing fantasy football back when owners had to mail in their starting lineups and work out trades over the phone. He started writing The Fire Sale in 1998. Since then his articles have appeared on numerous web sites sites including Fantasy Sharks, USA Today and SI.com.